This invention relates to a spring air gun with a pivoting barrel. More particularly, the invention relates to such a gun with an improved fork member for pivotably mounting the barrel and for retaining the barrel in a firing position and a safety mechanism for preventing the gun to be fired when the barrel is not in the firing position.
A spring air gun generally includes a barrel for holding a projectile, a compression tube, and a spring-biased piston reciprocably mounted in the compression tube. The gun is cocked for firing by moving the piston to compress the spring. When the gun is fired, the spring drives the piston to compress the air within the compression tube, which propels the projectile from the barrel.
Spring air guns commonly include a pivoting barrel which is connected to a cocking lever for cocking the piston when the barrel is pivoted away from its firing position. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,271, the barrel is advantageously pivotably mounted in a fork member which is inserted into the compression tube.
The invention provides an improvement over the gun which is described in the patent. A single dowel pin attaches the fork member to the compression tube. The compression tube is also forked, and the fork of the compression tube engages and reinforces the outside of the fork member. The barrel is pivotally connected to both of the forks by a single dowel pin. A spring clip on the barrel releasably engages a stud on the fork member to retain the barrel in the firing position. The butt stock of the gun is attached to the fork member by screws which threadedly engage internally threaded inserts in the fork member. A trigger blocking mechanism engages the cocking lever when the barrel is not in the firing position and prevents the trigger from being pulled.